URGENT ACTION: RELEASE PALESTINIAN PEDIATRICIAN AND HOSPITAL DIRECTOR

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is a pediatrician and the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza. In late December, the Israeli military raided his hospital and arbitrarily detained him, along with other medical staff and patients.

Dr. Abu Safiya has been one of the most prominent voices of Gaza’s decimated healthcare sector. He was detained while caring for his patients and carrying out his medical duties.

Take urgent action now: tell Israeli authorities to immediately release him. Authorities must disclose his whereabouts, grant him access to a lawyer, ensure his protection from torture and ill-treatment, and provide him with adequate healthcare.

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Yifat

Tomer-Yerushalmi

Military Advocate General Brig

Dear Brig. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi,

I am writing to you to demand the immediate release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a pediatrician and the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Occupied Gaza Strip, who was arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared by Israeli forces on December 27, 2024, along with other hospital staff and patients, following a deadly raid on the hospital which put it out of service.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, 51, has for months acted as one of the most prominent voices of Gaza’s decimated healthcare sector, providing comprehensive and reliable information about the healthcare situation in the North Gaza governorate, particularly since Israeli forces laid a near-total siege to the area. He continued to bear witness and treat children, despite the killing of his son last year.

Testimonies collected by Amnesty International and other human rights groups reveal a dreadful reality inside Israeli prisons and detention centers, where Palestinian detainees – including health workers – face systematic torture and other ill-treatment, and are denied their right to a fair trial and due process, along with access to adequate food and medical care. In light of this, and the ongoing failure of Israeli authorities to grant independent monitors access to detention centres, I am extremely concerned for the life and wellbeing of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya.

By arresting him arbitrarily, refusing to disclose his whereabouts and refusing to grant him access to legal counsel, Israeli forces committed serious violations of international law, including the crime of enforced disappearance.

I urge you to secure the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all other Palestinians, including health workers, who have been forcibly disappeared and are arbitrarily detained by Israeli authorities. Pending Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s release, I urge you to disclose his whereabouts and ensure his protection from all forms of torture and other ill-treatment, including coercion. Pending his release, he must be granted access to legal counsel and adequate medical care while in detention.

Sincerely,

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